Know Thy Past
by UtterlyGutsyNinja16
Summary: Natalie McLeod was not special, she had to work hard to get what she wanted, and she was never the chosen one for anything. The girl didn't want to stir up trouble with the Marauders and her best friend Lily Evans. Or catch the eye of Sirius Black. (Not a Mary Sue/Self-Insert and lots of interesting points)
1. Brave New World

**Author's Note:**

**~Disclaimer:**

**I don't own any of the Harry Potter franchise. They are all owned by J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Warner's Brothers, and David Heyman. Please be sure to favorite, follow, review, and enjoy this fanfic.**

**~Summary:**

**Brave, weird, super friendly, new to the Wizarding World, and never is the chosen one for anything, how will she ever survive as a First Year in 1971 amongst the Marauders and Lily Evans?**

**~Important Details:**

**I plan for this character to be interesting, flawed, and likable. Now, I am trying for Natalie not to be a Mary Sue and if any of you feel she is starting to become one please tell me and I will try my best to correct that because in my mind there is nothing worse than OC character gone Mary Sue. Also, I don't want her to be a Self-Insert Character either, like I stated before I wish for this character to come off as interesting, flawed, and well liked and a Self-Insert character is like a Mary Sue except the Mary Sue has super special awesome powers and everyone is in love with her. That's not very interesting and not my intentions.**

**Here's another thing... tell me if I have my information is wrong in a nice way please because I have not checked out PotterMore and I may have some things wrong considering not every possibility has been explained in the books. So, all I am asking is when and if I have my poop wrong please just be friendly and nice about because that just makes everything so much easier for the both of us.**

**~Key:**

**Italics = thoughts, flashbacks, sarcasm, or emphasis on a word or phrase.**

**Bold = the meaning of a spell or something of that nature, to express page numbers and my author's notes.**

**Underline = to extremely emphasis a word or a phrase.**

**~Story: Know Thy Past~**

**~Chapter One: Brave New World~**

The wind was sweeping away the leaves, the air thick with the summer's humidity, the squirrels were making other little rotten squirrels, and people were playing out in the day. Natalie tried hard to pay attention to the children her own age and their parents rather than the constant yelling in the other room. The little girl may have been used to the constant bickering and hateful words exchanged between her parents, but it was still painful to listen to...

"You're such a pig!" Her mother exclaimed.

"Oh, that's your solution to everything, isn't it?!" Her father said. "Calling me names to better yourself, huh?!"

The rest was drowned out by the slamming of doors and other things. Natalie could've sworn she heard a cooking tool being thrown hitting the wall. It was always like this and she always hid in her room never wishing to get in the middle of that mess. She couldn't even remember the last time her parents said 'I love you'.

Then she heard more yelling just when a car door slammed shut. Then it was silent after that and then after a few moments Natalie sighed thinking things were fine for now. She stood and went out bravely knowing there's a strong possibility her father or her mother could be out there still severely pissed off and ready to chew somebody out.

The girl sneaked off into the bathroom across the hall and shut it softly. Natalie looked into the mirror looking at her reflection. The brown eyes were big and childlike, the skin was smooth and pale, her hair right at her shoulders and bounced with natural loose curls, the lips were full and pouty, the body was tiny from a high metabolism and constant exercise and rather short for her age and the two things she really hated was the fact that her face was chubby and her coloring so boringly average

"Come on, Natalie." She said to her reflection. "Be cheery like usual... being all mopey is stupid."

The little brunette faked her smile and told herself she was being stupid.

Then she peaked her head out of the bathroom door to check. No one was home and it was a Saturday morning. She figured she'd go out and check the mail to distract herself from the words that her parents yelled at each other and with hopes that perhaps someone sent her something. She flipped through them: bills... bills... more bills... ooh a fancy green envelope sitting right on top of the mailbox.

**First Page**

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Ms. McLeod,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

**Second Page**

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes(black)2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_

_by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory_

_by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_

_by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

_by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions_

_by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

_by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

_by Quentin Trimble_

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)1 set glass or crystal phials1 telescope1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWNBROOMSTICK

Yours sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

**~X~**

The brown and thin eyebrows narrowed at the contents of the letter. She thought it was an elaborate prank and that someone had no life to do to her and her family. Natalie figured she wasn't that hated at school for it to happen; no one payed all that much attention to her even though she tried. The girl shook her head and scoffed.

"Hello little lady." The mail man said with a smile.

Natalie was to never one to be unfriendly. "Good morning, how are you?"

"I'm fine." He said stepping out of the truck. "Are your parents home?"

The girl didn't even feel a creepy chill go through her at the question. She never registered when she should be wary of someone that seemed to be friendly, but was asking all the wrong questions.

"No." She smiled. "They're not home... Why?"

"You've read that letter." He said. "You know why I am here."

That was when she first began to study his appearance. He looked normal: short cropped brown hair, brown oval shaped eyes, the regular mail man uniform, and a friendly smile. He didn't look out of the ordinary like she thought a wizard should be.

"I'm sorry, I thought this was a joke from one of the stupid people at my school." She said with a small flush.

"Oh definitely not." He said. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Capurnicus Norbert and I am wizard just like you."

The eleven year old girl gave him a skeptical look. She didn't believe him for one microsecond because it simply sounded too good to be true. Natalie never was _the_ one... for anything. When she gotten on her primary school football team she was number two, when it came to class rank which she worked hard to be number one in she was number two, and when she tried to be the number one liked person at school she failed miserably... not even close to her normal rank of number two. Natalie wasn't buying into Norbert's words for one moment.

"I'm not a wizard... or a witch, whichever you wish to call me. I, Natalie McLeod, am not special in the slightest."

"Not according to that letter right there in your hands."

"How do I know you're not lying?" She asked skeptically.

The girl wasn't going to invest her time and hopes into the possibility that she was magically inclined and could one day extremely special. However, even if she was a witch she figured she'd be an ordinary one, not special at all. Natalie wasn't going to get her hopes up.

"Give me today." He said with a smile. "When the day is over I'll be sure to prove to you and your family that you're indeed a witch."

Once her mother— who was generally the more level headed of the two parents— came home her, Natalie, and Norbert went out to London. They stood in front of the Leaky Cauldron and the two McLeod girls narrowed their gaze at it wondering if this was really a joke and elaborate prank.

"Come on Mrs. McLeod and Natalie." Norbert smiled in a friendly matter opening the door for them.

They entered hesitantly and it seemed like an ordinary pub to them. They kept walking as people minded their own business and didn't really bother them or say anything. Eventually they faced a gold brick wall in front of them.

"What the deuce? It's a gold wall... what's so special about it?"

"You'll see." He said tapping the wall in specific spots with his wand.

Once the wall dissolved into bricks it revealed what was behind solid gold. The muggle and muggleborn wished they had eight more eyes... There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments the two had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...

It was so spectacular that little Natalie actually ran through the cobbled streets in her excitement. It startled and shocked both Norbert and Mrs. McLeod. The first reason being that the event itself surprised them and second being that Diagon Alley was already crowded with witches and wizards that they feared her being lost forever or kidnapped.

"Natalie!" Mrs. McLeod shouted. "You get back here!"

Norbert understood what it was like to be young like that and just introduced to magic, wizardkind, and the many possibilities Diagon Alley holds. However, he also understood that she was at risk. Especially her being a Muggle-born and the fact that the First Wizarding War going on. It was not good times to be a Muggle-born.

They found her amongst others around the pet shop. It had all animals you could imagine as pets: owls, cats, toads, chinchillas, squirrels, baby dragons (that were legal), hedgehogs, hogs, teacup pigs, and one miniature horse. Natalie was absolutely captivated by the display of unique animals she's never encountered.

"There you are!" Her mother exclaimed grasping her wrist tightly.

"Mum, can I have one? Please!" She begged. "That baby dragon looks so cute!"

Norbert gave her a weird look, that baby dragon is not what you consider to be stereotypically cute. He breathed miniature fire balls, snapped at most who came near him, and he was covered in scales. However, Mrs. McLeod was used to her antics about her generally different ways of interpreting things.

"No, that dragon would burn our house down. Now, let's focus on what you need for school... By the way, Mr. Norbert how do I exchange pounds to..."

"... Galleons." He said finishing the sentence for her. "Right this way."

Eventually once they got to Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Mrs. McLeod let go of Natalie's hand. The little girl was too curious as she looked at the goblins who she was under the impression were hobbits with leprosy. She was looking all around in the vast room and during her little spin around (she had a huge child wonderment smile on her face) she practically knocked over someone behind her.

"Hey watch where you're going!" She exclaimed.

"S-sorry, I didn't see you there." She smiled brightly with her eyes closed and scratching the back of her head.

Unfortunately, the girl she knocked over wasn't as cheery as her, however seeing as Natalie— in attempts to make it up to him— bent over to pick up what she knocked out of his hands curved her first impulse to yell at her. The girl always had such a temper.

"It's fine... I'm sorry for snapping at you." She said with a deep sigh. "My name's Lily Evans. What's yours?"

Natalie perked up at the idea of making a friend in the Wizarding World because she figured magically inclined people would be more like her and it would be easier. The little witch was positively ecstatic, but she knew if she came off to excited than she would scare Lily off.

"Mine's Natalie McLeod." She said. "Are you a witch too or are... erm... a muggle?"

"A witch." She smiled. "A muggle is a regular person, right? It's so hard remembering all of this."

"I know right." Natalie giggled lightly in her usual adorable fashion.

"Wait, you're a muggle-born too?" Lily asked with raised brows.

"Yep!" She said with cheer puffing out her small chest with happiness.

That was when Natalie actually started to take in the appearance of Lily in front of her. She was a unique beauty, not many aquired her coloring naturally: her flaming red hair, emerald green eyes, and pale skin. The girl didn't even have freckles like a proper ginger. It was unfair.

"Natalie!" Mrs. McLeod exclaimed. "Come on now, why do insist on running off so much?!"

"Bye Lily!" Natalie said as she was dragged away by her mother. "I'll see you on the train station!"

* * *

**~xXx~**

* * *

Finally, it was September first and Natalie didn't feel an ounce of fear in her gut. She couldn't remember even once she was aware of any fear coursing through her. She was excited; she wanted to meet Wizardkind and make friends. She didn't have any when she was at other schools and couldn't wait to make some. That was all she wanted from life at Hogwarts... to be somebody and more importantly the girl that wasnt chosen second for everything.

Little Natalie was having looking for someone to share a compartment with and she chose the direct approach when dealing with this. She took a deep breath and before sliding the door open to the first compartment that didn't look full.

"Hello." The girl smiled brightly. "Can I sit here with you?"

Who she stood in front of was a boy with sleek dark hair, grey eyes, and with an odd sort of grace to him and the other boy had jet black hair that had angles going everywhere, glasses, brown eyes, and a sort of haughtiness to him. She supposed they were good looking, but she was eleven years old soon to be twelve she didn't care about things like that.

"Sure, there's room." Shaggy boy said.

"Thanks." She said in an adorably up beat voice.

Natalie put up her trunk in the little area designated for it before she sat down across the boys. Instantly it was rather quiet, so the brown eyed girl tried to break the ice with the intention of making a friend. All she needed was one, just one.

"Well, my name's Natalie... Natalie McLeod. What are yours?"

"Sirius Black."

"James Potter."

They were both a shade too haughty, but Natalie could overlook flaws even if they might grate on her nerves in the near future. The brunette was flexible though and not just physically either.

There was a very short pause and the girl started trying to say something, but somebody interrupted her. It was Lily and her childhood friend she brought along. Natalie instantly brightened up, a familiar face.

"Could we sit here?" She asked.

"Sure... Hi Lily."

"Oh... hi Natalie." She said with a small and stressed smile.

"So, who's your friend?" She asked as she scooted over to make room for the two best friends.

"Severus Snape." She said. "I call him Sev."

There was a snicker from James. Three glares turned to his direction; they all varied in degrees of intensity. It wasn't nice to laugh at someone's name even if it's funny sounding when you say it really fast like that.

"Wow, that name will definitely land you in Slytherin. That is _not_ a House you want to go to." He said.

"House?" Natalie questioned.

"There are four Houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin." Sirius explained. "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James Potter said. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad... Got a problem with that?"

He directed his sharp gaze to Severus and it was a little unsettling.

Severus Snape said. "No. If you'd rather be brawny than brainy..."

"Well, seeing as you're neither where are you going to go?" James sneered.

Sirius chuckled, Natalie had to bite her bottom lip from giggling, and Lily and Severus scowled severely. To say there were mixed feelings in the crowd was an understatement.

"Slytherin—"

"What's so special about all these Houses?" Natalie interrupted not wanting a fight to break out in front of her.

"Slytherin is for all the evil wizards in fact my entire family's been in that House." Sirius said. "James already explained Gryffindor, Ravenclaw is for brainiac, and Hufflepuff is for hard workers. Personally Gryffindor sounds loads better."

Natalie didn't agree, she thought the Gryffindor's sounded like the dumb jocks of the school and would rather be apart of either the brainiacs and the hard workers. They seemed the most favorable out of the four, but then again the brave hearted sounded like they would be the most popular.

"I'd rather be able to manipulate, be smart, and not be idiotically brave." Severus scoffed.

"Whatever floats your boat." James scoffed as well. "If you want to be an evil wizard you've got the looks for it."

The same outcome occurred, except this time Lily had enough, grabbed Severus' wrist and dragged him out of the compartment.

"You're an arse." She hissed at him and then in a slightly happier tone she said. "Bye Natalie, I'll see you around."

"Bye Lily. Bye Severus." She smiled in a more somber seeing as they were rather angry and then spoke to the two boys. "You should at least try and be nice to people you don't like. It makes everything go so much smoother."

"Whatever. You know it was funny." Sirius said in a barking laugh.

James soon joined in the slightly contagious laughter. Sirius always seemed to bring in people in with laughter; it was just so warming and rather friendly even if it was pretty awful subject. Albeitly, Natalie joined in too and the compartment was filled up with hard giggling and laughing.

**Author's Note: So, should I continue this fanfiction? What do you think of this fic? Should I continue it? Any thoughts, hopes, or suggestions for it? I'm happy to hear it. :—)**

******Review if you think I'm cute. :—P**


	2. 162 Candles

**Author's Note:**

**~Thanking Reviewers:**

**Guest: Thank you for the review. I'm glad you read it, liked, and said that you think I'll easily have readers even if this isn't you're kind of fanfiction. That makes me feel really appreciated as a writer. It also let's me know that someone is reading and enjoying it.**

**~Important Detail:**

**I forgot one important detail in this fanfic. I also plan for this fic to have every sort of appealing genre which includes: romance, drama, action, science fiction (that's a given), comedy, fantasy (that's a given too), and a little mystery.**

**~Chapter 2: 162 Candles~**

The three of them were enjoying themselves playing Exploding Snap which they taught Natalie how to play. They were sitting in the red seats, amongst the tan walls, and the window with images flashing by so quickly. It was exciting how quickly they were approaching Hogwarts. Neither of them could wait until they could start their seven year long school life that most would consider the best years of their lives.

"O-ouch!" Natalie exclaimed in pain from the snap that exploded.

She laughed at the good mirth knowing this wasn't her game and she wasn't any good at it. It required extremely good reflexes and she didn't have that level of reflexes. However, she was used to being not so great at really anything. The girl didn't have talent; she worked hard to be good at the things she's good at.

"Hello." A feeble voice sounded.

The trio looked over and saw a sandy haired boy with green eyes, and a rather look about him. The sunken might be do to all the scars on his body, his thinness, and the fact that he looked absolutely exhausted.

"Hi." Natalie greeted.

The other boys greeted him too as one of the snaps exploded against Sirius' hand. He made an explanation of pain, so Natalie, James, and so did the unknown boy laughed loudly. That was when the boy took the available seat next to Natalie.

"What's your name?" She asked amicably.

"Remus Lupin." He said softly.

The boy then pulled out a book when the other three children introduced themselves. The kids figured he was just antisocial and went back to their game of how they would burn their fingers and who would have the least burns and injury. It went on for hours: it alternate between who would get burnt and they were all pretty much equally burnt.

* * *

**~xXx~**

* * *

They exited the train and Natalie looked around the magical area wondering if she was still in a very long dream that she hasn't awaken from yet. It was all too good to be true. She looked around wondering if she could spot Lily and her off putting friend Severus. She liked Lily, she was a Muggle-born like her and understood her pop-culture references unlike James, Sirius, and Remus. They always gave her a blank look whenever she tried to talk about football or Gunsmoke; that wasn't a reaction Natalie could work with.

Unfortunately, she didn't see Lily or Severus and stuck close by the three boys not wanting to be lost or strayed from them. Soundly murmuring erupted throughout the scared little First Years; some of them weren't afraid at all they were brave like nature designed them to be. Natalie was one of those people because— to be honest— she didn't understand why people feared the most silliest things such as being introduced to a new school, meeting people, or standing up and speaking in front of a big group of people. She figured nothing horrific will happen, nine out of ten times no one will stab you or something horrible like that.

"Firs' Years!" A gruffly voice sounded. "Firs' Years!"

They looked around in shock at his large and burly appearance. He was clearly above even normally tall people. Some were scared and most were quiet amongst him.

"Wow." Natalie said softly. "What's your name? Mine's Natalie!"

The mind of a child was what she had: nice to everyone, doesn't pre-judge, always finds something that should be rather intimidating... interesting, and always filled with thoughts that everyone was nice and not judge-y.

"Hagrid."

Later they were in the boats it held four to the limit and Natalie considered smackint James and Sirius with one of the rows that were rowing themselves to get them to stop shaking and bouncing the boat. However, she didn't because of the sight up ahead.

Hogwarts was beautiful like no other place in the world. The dark pointed structures, the mass of it all, and the fact that oozed magic from every crevice. It was mysterious for the fact that no one fully understood what secrets those halls and rooms hid.

"It's so pretty!" She exclaimed with sparkles practically in her eyes.

The others were fascinated and intrigued by it to the point that they couldn't speak. Since this was the first time they've all seen Hogwarts.

After the boat ride they were all gathered in a little room waiting to be sorted. It was scary for them, but like usual Natalie was unaffected it's not like they would open the doors and a pack of hungry lions would devour them.

Just then the doors burst open with a witch in emerald green robes shutting them behind her. She had a stern and 'I don't play around' kind of face. She also screamed intensely organized from the lack of one wrinkle in her robes, the tightly wound bun, the professional looking glasses, and the permanent line for a mouth.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your House Common Room.

"The Four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you."

With the sweep of her robes she left the room with a loud click. It was silent for about 1.2 seconds before loud murmuring broke out. They were all insanely nervous and they weren't quiet about it. Two student began boasting about their so called skills: one was in the back and one was in the front, one was a girl and one was a boy, one was attractive and the other was not so much.

"It shouldn't be a problem." James smirked. "I've done cooler things in my sleep."

"Please this will be a cake walk. My Mom told me everything I need to know about Hogwarts." Caroline Rosier said with an air of importance.

It was rather annoying to any of the listeners and all they did was resist rolling their eyes and scoffing at the arrogance there. However, some students were buying into the crud and listening with rapt attention. One person in particular stood out amongst the few of them was Peter Pettigrew. He didn't take one look of adoration away from him.

It was obvious to everyone around him that Peter was a follower and not one bit a leader of any kind. It was pathetic to witness and it just fed directly into James' ego.

Suddenly with a great amount of force and impatience the door swung open. It rather surprised everyone since the tension was so thick and further exclamations of surprise was made when several ghosts flew above their head. Natalie— with fanciful childlike wonder— looked at them even though she's never seen a phantom before except in cheesy movies.

"Silence!" McGonagall commanded and everyone did because her strict nature demanded such things. "Now, line up alphabetically."

It took a few short minutes for them to do so and once they did the professor had all of them follow her.

Once the eleven year olds entered the room they were fascinated. Natalie looked up at the night sky with all the individual stars and the clouds making it look smoky. Then she and pretty much every other First Year noticed the candles lit and floating there. There must have been over a hundred and sixty-two of them.

Caroline scoffed under her breath. "My house looks nicer."

The girl was obviously lying and her pretentiousness was getting on everyone's nerves. Well, not everyone the girl, like James, was getting admirers and followers because this girl was unique in one way. She was unique for the fact that she could boast all day, but she could still keep her attitude of aloofness and apathy. It was what most would call the 'cool factor'.

Just then the hat sprung to life off of the stool. It definitely wasn't a pretty hat because it was old and frayed and looked like it represented time itself.

"In times of old, when I was new,  
And Hogwarts barely started,  
The founders of our noble school  
Thought never to be parted.

United by a common goal,  
They had the selfsame yearning  
To make the world's best magic school  
And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach"  
The four good friends decided.  
And never did they dream that they  
Might some day be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere  
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?  
Unless it was the second pair  
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

So how could it have gone so wrong?  
How could such friendships fail?  
Why, I was there, so I can tell  
The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those  
Whose ancestry's purest."  
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose  
Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those  
With brave deeds to their name."  
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot  
And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife  
When first they came to light.  
For each of the four founders had  
A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,  
For instance, Slytherin  
Took only pure-blood wizards  
Of great cunning just like him.

And only those of sharpest mind  
Were taught by Ravenclaw  
While the bravest and the boldest  
Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest  
and taught them all she knew,  
Thus, the houses and their founders  
Maintained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony  
for several happy years,  
but then discord crept among us  
feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four  
had once held up our school  
now turned upon each other and  
divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school  
must meet an early end.  
what with dueling and with fighting  
and the clash of friend on friend.

And at last there came a morning  
when old Slytherin departed  
and though the fighting then died out  
he left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four  
were whittled down to three  
have the Houses been united  
as they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here  
and you all know the score:  
I sort you into Houses  
because that is what I'm for.

But this year I'll go further,  
listen closely to my song:  
though condemned I am to split you  
still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfill my duty  
and must quarter every year  
still I wonder whether sorting  
may not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,  
the warning history shows,  
for our Hogwarts is in danger  
from external, deadly foes

And we must unite inside her  
or we'll crumble from within  
I have told you, I have warned you...  
let the Sorting now begin."

**(Author's Note: I know this isn't original, but I am not musically talented or poetic enough to create my own. I'm sorry if you were looking for a unique song from the Sorting Hat, but alas no. However I do feel as if this fits considering war was happening during this time.)**

The crowd in applause and whistling at the hat that always burst into song. It was especially exciting for the little First Years who's never experienced such a spectacular show. Eventually it died down and it was time to sort the students.

"Abatha Tara." McGonagall called.

The girl walked up to the stool stumbling clumsily before sitting down and timidly put the Sorting Hat atop her head. After a few short moments the hat cried...

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff table cheered in happiness and the kid stumbled over there with a red face.

"Astoria Corbin." McGonagall called.

The boy walked over there with douchey confidence that made people rather envious or annoyed. The kid sat there elegantly with a leg crossed and sat the hat on his head with such pompous intent.

Almost instantly the hat shouted. "RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table erupted in applause.

After a good few more sortings a certain name was called.

"McLeod Natalia." McGonagall called.

She was practically bouncing on her feet with elation. She was so excited and happy, so she walked quickly up there without the actual running. She sat down and was surprised to hear a voice.

_"Hmm, so many thoughts and qualities to discern from... Where to begin? You work hard to get what you want..., you have ambition and drive..., you have a good head on your shoulders..., and you have unwavering bravery." There was a short pause before it spoke again. "Well, this bravery and lack of fear is just so overwhelming... it better be... GRYFFINDOR!"_

Natalie hopped off the stool and put the hat back on the stool whilst the Gryffindor table screamed, applauded, and roared with happiness. She sat down wedging herself between Lily and a blonde girl. Natalie smiled in a friendly manner finding this absolutely perfect. All of her friends so far were in the same House as she was.

"Hi Lily." She smiled with absolute elation.

"Hey Natalie." She said with a smile.

"I like this place. It's so different from everywhere I've been." She said still looking around in happiness.

"Yes, it's so scary and mysterious!" Lily said looking especially at the bloody Baron.

"Eh." Natalie shrugged taking a look at this so called scary spirit. "He's not so scary. I bet he's super nice... or he was when he was alive."

The girl wasn't smiling this time, but she did mean what she said and Lily found her fearless. The girl was an absolute fearless child; Lily didn't understand why and it kind of intrigued her.

"Now!" Dumbledore's booming voice naturally commanded silence. "Mr. Filch has informed me that there are some rules that need to be addressed. There are a few out of bound areas: the Forbidden Forest and the Stone Tower. If you go anywhere in those forbidden areas you will die."

The seriousness in those crystal blue eyes made several students laugh at the seemingly ridiculous implications and Natalie was one of the ones to explosively laugh along with another student. Lily gave her a small scowl before the little brunette hushed herself.

"Now I have to say welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

At first Natalie looked at him like he was on crack, but then she just shrugged. The next thing that happened was all of the food for the feast appeared before them. All of the First Years eyes were as wide as saucers before they dug in.

Natalie had no idea what to eat first. There were all kinds of meat cooked in all kinds of ways, like chicken, beef, pork, ham and turkey. Then there was the insane amounts of sides that were available prepared in ways that would take a vast amount of creativity and time. There were potatos, mashed potatoes, potato salad, potato soup, sweet potatoes, corn, corn on the cob, cream corn, rice, white rice, brown rice, fried rice, cold rice salad, peas, mushy peas, peas in a pod, and salad.

They ate like insane ravaged animals and consumed as much as their stomachs could hold. Eventually floating on around the Lady Grey came around.

"Ugh, what a day." She complained. "It was so quiet in here I could be alone with my thoughts..."

"Oh yes, children are just the worst." A pretty female ghost said sarcastically and then she continued on in a more serious tone. "Lady Grey, have you ever considered haunting a library instead so you could actually be happy? Because if you hate the noise the school is the worst place to be."

"Yes, students and noise... add in a little rectal surgery and it's my best day ever." She said with such biting sarcasm.

The students that heard before she went off in a huffy manner laughed and had to keep from coughing up their food. The woman was hilarious when she was bitingly upset about certain times in her day.

Eventually the students began walking to their dormitories and something happened. James who was gleefully swaying a bit in sober but seemingly drunken happiness. He ended up running into Caroline Rosier and knocking her over slightly.

"Watch yourself, Blood Traitor." She said angrily placing her tiny hands on her tiny hips.

Lily looked uncomfortable to speak among others and right before any of them could gather what they needed to say in their minds Natalie beat them to the punch. She couldn't stand the fact a bully and knew from the look on everyone's face that the Caroline was a bit out of line. She's not perfect, when you insult her friends she uses words for weapons.

"You know Rosier," Natalie began standing in front of them, "I have this great method where you shove your foot in your mouth... oh wait, you seemed to already have done that."

"Ugh." Caroline scoffed. "Who the bloody hell are you to be talking to me like that?"

"Rosier, I am going to say to what I've wanted to say to you ever since you opened your mouth... Shut the hell up... you jerk."

Everyone was silent and in shock since they crowded up as First Years. It was quite the word battle and it was heightening in intensity as it continued.

"Oh shut up, you filthy little Mudblood!" She said in a typical valley girl accent.

Everyone gasped and that's when shit hit the ceiling fan. Some people went to attack Caroline, others protected her and the Muggle-borns just didn't understand. James and Sirius were the ones who stood in front of Natalie and Lily as one of the Syltherins went to attack them. All the while Caroline was smirking as if nothing was wrong and she accomplished what she desired.

From that day on Caroline Rosier and Natalie McLeod were rivals...

**Author's Note: Should I continue? ****If you like my serious face review :—P. Dis my serious face… –.–**


	3. Smells like School Spirit

**Author's Note:**

**~Thanking Reviewers:**

**Guest: Oh boy is right. ;—) Shit definitely hit the ceiling fan and I am not holding back with the drama, comedy, or the action. It's so much fun. Thanks for the review. :—)**

**~Chapter 3: Smells like School Spirit~**

It was a very startling revelation to little Natalie who viewed the world as such a hopeful beacon with new and better places to be. The girl had hoped that the Wizarding World would be different, less prejudice, and open minded considering magic was often described as science that cannot be explained yet. She thought with that opinion and some levels a fact that they would be so open minded that no one would give a rat's arse about blood status. Unfortunately, it seemed that truly people weren't that different from each other whether you're a wizard or a Muggle.

"What does that... _word_ mean?" Natalie asked since Lily was too nervous to ask.

They were in the Great Hall the next morning consuming their breakfasts. It was quite a surreal aftermath of the first fight— even though there wasn't any magic involved— that ensued amongst the First Years. They didn't really discuss the mess of a situation with their peers yet considering they were exhausted from a long travel and a really good feast. The little Muggle-borns didn't understand the insult from that headache of a girl named Rosier, so they were asking someone who might know.

"Erm... it's a rather touchy topic. Are you sure want to get into it?" He looked uncomfortable.

The two girls were speaking to Remus Lupin one of their fellow Gryffindors. He was nice enough, even though the poor chap came off a little weird with all the scars across his young face, the bony quality to him that resisted putting on a couple of healthy pounds, and the way he rather kept to himself as well. It rather kept kids at a distance, but not Natalie she knew how it felt to be left out whether you try too hard to make friends or not enough.

"Yeah, I personally want to know what I'm being called when I'm insulted. I don't know about you Lily, but I do." She said. "So, could you please tell us?"

He spoke softly as he leant in a little closer on the table. "That... _word_, is really fowl language for a Muggle-born like you and Lily. It's a typical slur used for prejudice people like Rosier... You see, quite often Purebloods like her feel that they're superior due to the fact that they don't have— or _claim_ to have— no Muggles in their family."

"What a load of horse hooey!" Natalie exclaimed a little too loudly causing other Gryffindors to stare at her temporarily. "S-sorry." She said with a cutesy wave and smile.

"Anyway," Lily said, "that's like Natalie said it's a load of horse hooey. Other wizards and witches can be just good if not better if they're not Purebloods."

Even though Lily was completely right about that her forcefulness was a little off putting, so the boy put his hands up as if in surrender and felt a little pressured.

"I know. I know, I agree with you." He said and then stood. "I'll see you two later, bye."

Natalie contemplated on the information given to her and it finally sunk in. She didn't like it whatsoever; she wanted things to be not so blood status crazy. She wanted to change that, she wanted to have friends without prejudice, gain magical skills without the bull crap excuses about her or anyone of her birth being judged or put down by Purebloods or Halfbloods.

In other words, Natalie wished to be acknowledged for who she was, to stand tall as a witch, and to make everyone see her as someone awesome.

* * *

**~xXx~**

* * *

"Miss McLeod," she heard her name being called by her professor, "what happens when you flick your wand in a whisping motion counter clockwise?"

The little brunette looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. She was dozing off a bit, wistfully thinking and hadn't caught a word of what the Charms professor said. Her chocolate brown eyes drifted over to Lily who was sitting right beside her a few feet away (the tables were rather long and the eleven year olds are rather little).

Lily was making motions with her quill and her hands in an imitation of an explosion, but the girl misunderstood it and her thin little brows crunched together before she spoke.

"Smelly gas?" She questions before looking back to Flitwick.

Flitwick had a full head of hair and just started teaching last year. He was a young man and a little one at that. Even though he may be new at teaching he knew how to call out a student and make them pay attention through embarrassment.

"No, Natalie," he squeaks, "it's a minor explosion. You would know that if you were paying attention."

Everyone began to laugh at her loudly and the girl flushed in embarrassment. She was tapping the tips of her tiny fingers together and looking down a little disheartened. This school, socially, wasn't any different than other schools. Little Natalie wasn't starting off the year in a popular fashion. However, she made one friend, Lily.

"Here, you can read my notes." Lily whispered.

Natalie did and scooted closer to her to do so. She copied them down as Flitwick went on about class expectations and rules before actually getting to the subject of what he was supposed to teach.

"Now, we shall be doing the Levitation Charm. Everyone get your wands out and practice the swish and flick motion. Swish and flick ladies and gentleman."

The two girls in the front row got their wands out. Natalie, unlike Lily, waited until everyone else tried it at least once so she wouldn't be embarrassed again. All of them had trouble with their feathers one way or another: one caught fire and burst into flames that quickly died out, most just stood there, and one person tried to pull off the floating by blowing on the feather.

"No, no, Natalie! You're going take my eye out holding your wand like that." A girl said with a biting tone to her voice.

Heather Yamato had jet black hair that in the front was long and past her tiny shoulders, the hair framing her face curled slightly just below the eyes, the bangs were just above her brow and bunched into three pointed pieces, and the back of her hair was short to the point of being just below her ears except for two twin ponytails that reached her waist. She also had blazing brown eyes that were large and icy cold, a tiny and lithe body, and an exterior that shouted 'cool indifference and don't approach me'. The girl had the ethnicity of an Asian; Natalie wasn't sure which Asian, but she figured it really didn't matter. No one really hung out with her and she always was a bitter little angry thing.

"Yamato, please don't shout at me. I'm not holding it the wrong way and just let me attempt this once." She said with her typical kind voice.

Natalie concentrated. Her hand held in a firm grasp yet not so firm that she would break her wand in half, she tried her best to control her magical prowess inside her for use of this particular spell, flicked her wand with a gentle swish of her hand, and let the words flow out of her mouth.

"Wingardium Leviosa." She whispered.

The feather rose barely a few feet, not as high as intended, but it did rise. Professor Flitwick looked up in slight surprise, but then he was completely blown away when he witnessed Heather do the same thing except the feather reached the roof before touching down back on her desk.

_Impressive... this girl is impressive. __Miss Yamato can float the feather at the top of the ceiling without the use of words said aloud. Non-verbal incantations are for students typically in their Fifth Year. Also, Miss McLeod has her own talents as well; she's good with magic control unlike Miss Yamato who uses raw power with little control or conservation to the use of her magic..._, Professor Flitwick thought.

Natalie and Lily looked at Heather like she was the most awful person alive. The girl purposely showed up the brunette on a fairly decent accomplishment to make it look like a shabby thing everybody does. Natalie had been uprooted and pegged as number two _again_.

Evans looked away, dismissing her with a scoff, but McLeod didn't instead she studied the petite little ravenette. When Yamato turned around to face Flitwick, Natalie took in subtle give aways to her not being happy. The eyes are sullen, the lips pouty, and the posture deadening.

Natalie deduced she was hurting and unhappy; the girl had that look and posture that she used to have when went to her previous school. However, the girl still didn't like Heather and felt this surge of deep annoyance.

Later, Natalie and Lily were sitting in potions with Professor Slughorn. He was an interesting sort of fellow; he seemed to be assessing these First Years like hogs for slaughter. He was analyzing them on their appearance, charm, abilities, family name worth (through name rosters not actual questions), and potions prowess.

That was least of the Gryffindors' problems, their first lesson of potions ever were with the Slytherins.

The children were all in pairs standing before their little groups individual cauldron. They had to make Cure for Boils one of the simplest potions created. However, the First Years have never made a potion before so it was considerably difficult for them.

Lily and Natalie, Sirius and James, Heather and Severus, Caroline and Mulciber, and Remus and Peter. So, that's all who matters at this point and that we know of. It was interesting to see how it went down between some of the more volatile partnerships. It was like an explosion waiting to happen...

"Come on, Snape!" Heather said getting annoyed that her partner wasn't able to and couldn't keep up with her.

She was sliding the items and ingredients to him like lightening and the mopey haired Half-blood couldn't sort out what needed to go where and he was somewhat freaking out and rather stressed out. Heather was just too fast for Severus. You can imagine the two socially awkward adolescents clashed.

"Slow down, Yamato!" Severus exclaimed.

"No, you should speed up!" She shot back.

Meanwhile, Lily and Natalie were going at a normal pace even though it was somewhat bothering the redhead. The girl was very punctual and rather competitive when it comes to school work; Natalie happened to be too, but why they weren't going at overwhelming speed was because both of them could see how disastrous of a situation Heather and Severus were in. Although, it still frustrated Lily.

"Add a sprinkle of powdered ginger root and stir vigorously again." Natalie read to Lily aloud from the Book of Potions.

The green eyed girl easily did what was told to her and internally seethed wishing that the process would hurry along.

With James and Sirius... they weren't doing much of anything except talking and joking around. Of course, since they had similar personalities in their youth they got along like peas and carrots... and I dare say it, a lot like brothers.

"Let's do it." Sirius said with a mischievous smirk. "That sounds like the most fun I've had all day."

The boys held an ingredient that did not belong to the potion that the rest of the class was brewing. The two were like fire and gasoline— when those two come in contact they fuel each other with the disaster— so you can imagine what the next second would be like.

"Oh yeah." James said with a wicked smirk too.

Sirius handed the spectacled boy some willow bark and then James lobbed it across the whole damn classroom and it hit with a disturbing amount of accuracy into Severus' cauldron. In the next moment the cauldron began to boil, rise, and then finally erupt into a colorful explosion.

Loud screams ensued from the near by children and the Duo of Doom just snickered at their handy work having a special kind of love for horrible and harmful pranks. It was rather sadistic, to be honest.

Severus was screaming the loudest because the brunt of the force of the explosion attacked him. His face went angry red with blistering boils all over his pale and harsh features on his visage. Painful blood blisters were bursting and reforming onto Severus' skin.

"You idiot!" Heather exclaimed as Slughorn just started to become aware of the issue at hand. "You put an extra ingredient didn't you?! Gah, I'm stuck with a bunch of losers!"

Then Slughorn stepped forward. "Alright, let's not panic. Someone, anyone please take Mr. Snape to the Hospital Wing!"

A random Slytherin girl said she'd do it and off they went. Little Natalie witnessed the whole thing go down, knew that it had to be the snickering boys in the back, saw Heather yell and accuse the sole victim in the explosion of being an idiot, and tried to ignore the aftermath of the guilt inducing speech from Slughorn. She didn't know what to make of it all. The portion with Heather was what stuck out to her the most. To Natalie it was a fairly awesome thing that she bitched out someone who she heard use the 'M' word about her and who she so far she counts as her best friend— all in order to make friends but there's no excuse for that bull crap— but the concern for her was that it was uncalled for amount of cruelty. 'I'm stuck with a bunch of losers' that line made her sound incredibly bitter and Natalie remembered feeling like that not that long ago...

When class was over the brunette noticed that Heather was all alone like usual, so Natalie approached her and told Lily to head on.

"Oi! Heather, wait up!" She said running at a light jog over to the girl.

The dark haired girl turned with an annoyed look on her fairly pretty face. "What do you want?!"

Suddenly, she was a bit tongue tied and had trouble getting her point across. Her confidence to speak and say what she felt she needed to say was slipping from her rather quickly. The girl was so intimidating and Natalie was reconsidering continuing on this conversation.

"Erm..., I was wondering whether you wanted to join Lily and I for... for lunch?" She said scratching the back of her head with a cute and sweet smile on her face.

It was hard to explain. She knew the girl was suffering just like how she once suffered; no friends and struggling internally with unpleasant feelings. Natalie felt that no one should be lonely and she figured that you could never have too many friends.

Heather composed herself with her usual indifference and coldly said. "No."

Natalie had to ask. "Why?"

"I don't need friends. That's not the point of school; the point is to be a powerful witch or wizard, so you better leave me alone. You got that?"

With that said and done Heather walked off with her long and low ponytails swishing behind her. Natalie frowned, but headed on to the Great Hall all the same...

* * *

**~xXx~**

* * *

That afternoon was the first encounter of when James first started his long standing mantra of pursuing Lily Evans. It was quite the scene to behold and it definitely wasn't the smoothest or smartest ways to approach someone you like more than platonically, but eh... he's eleven years old. He digresses.

"Oi, Evans." He called and the little redhead turned to face him. "You've got something on your shirt." She looked down where his finger pointed on her robes and then flicked her nose when she looked down. "Ha, fooled you!"

He laughed leaving the temperamental little bundle of nerves in an angry state of being. Unfortunately, James wasn't the only one who laughed, Sirius and a few people close enough to witness the event giggled. That didn't help the girl who was about to have her anger burst like the cork of warm champagne.

"Oi, Lily." Natalie called with a smile.

That's when the little redhead began to take deep and calming breaths. The call of her name helped with that because the heat of her anger tuned everything out. That was the time Natalie showed up next to her.

"I'm starved." She smiled and then they sat down.

The girls began to eat and they just across the Duo of Doom and the rest of the soon to be Marauders. Lily was glaring green daggers at James and Natalie was just feasting on her hefty lunch. She was a hunger little thing.

"So, tonight I was thinking we'd go up to the Stone Tower. I hear it's forbidden." James had a wild glint in his eyes when he said this.

Unknown to them through the loud Great Hall Lily and Natalie heard that and Sirius' obvious reply to the invitation. The redhead was positively appalled by the behavior and was going to tell on them until one reply that stopped her entirely.

"I'll go too. It sounds like fun." Natalie said with a smirk.

The boys smirked with immediate amusement and relief and Lily on the other hand looked horrified.

The wind was howling, the rain was pounding on the windows, and thunder and lightening was crackling amongst the storm. The Gryffindor Common Room was still buzzing though and so the girls that were talking couldn't be heard.

"Natalie... you can't be serious. You can't go with a bunch of boys to a forbidden area who knows what's up there? It's way too dangerous. You'll be breaking so many rules... it'll cost Gryffindor so many House Points." She was begging for her best friend not to do it.

The small and not that pretty eleven year old girl wasn't paying all that much attention to Lily when she was discussing this. No, her eyes were trained on a smexy older male Gryffindor student who was laughing and carrying on with such enthusiasm. It was inthralling, it captivated the young girl, and she felt her heart thumping rapidly.

The Gryffindor was a Third Year, he was darkly handsome. He had dark hair of pitch black that was spiked and rather short, his eyes blazing blue, his skin milky pale, and his body was toned and lean. The thirteen year old was quite handsome...

"Uh hellooo." Lily dragged out waving a hand in front of her face over and over again.

"What?" She said in a bit of a daze.

"You were spacing out." Lily said in a bit of a huff. "Are you... are you fawning over that guy?"

Natalie flushed bright red before she said hastily. "Um no no no no."

She shook her head so fast Lily thought it would pop right off. The girl despite not being that pretty looked absolutely adorable in that instance. It was obvious that she was lying, so Lily gave her the third degree burn stare.

"Okay, okay, he's just so... attractive." She sighed looking straight at him.

"You know," one girl flopped down right against the edge of the sofa Lily and Natalie shared before continuing, "that's Alexander... prefers to be called Alex McLaggen... he's totally gorgeous. His favorite color is blue, he's a Cancer, he's a Pureblood, and _quite_ the athlete. He made Chaser last year for Quidditch and I hear he flies like a bird."

"You got all of that in one day?" Lily said looking at her incredulously.

"Oh please, I got all of that in between first and second period. We're planning a June wedding." She sighed dreamily and then said in a more average tone of voice. "By the way my name is Janice, Janice Hamilton."

The two other girls introduced themselves and Natalie couldn't help but feel a little threatened by Janice. The girl was gorgeous and so adorable. She had startling blue eyes, the perfect shade of long and wavy blonde hair, and she was so slender. She didn't know how she could ever compete with her on appearances.

The three Gryffindors continued to prattle on and on about trivial things until James, Sirius and Peter gave Natalie the signal. Her heart gave a jolt of excitement. She longed for adventure; it was the rebellious side of her that demanded to be sated from time to time. The Muggle-born stood and wasn't even noticed since the girls was in such an intense conversation about attractive male movie stars; Janice was a Half-blood.

The brunette slipped out of the Fat Lady's portrait hole and gathered with the mischievous group. She was prepared to have fun and the hint of danger just excited her further. The Marauders understood this.

"You know, McLeod if you squeal we'll never forgive you and take you down with us. Got it?" James said with absolute seriousness.

"I'll take it to the grave." She said with a playful smile and crossed her heart with her pointer finger.

"Come on, let's get going before Peter wets himself." Sirius teased.

The little chubby mousy boy looked even shyer as James hushed all of them before bringing out a black cloak. The three with them gave it an odd look before the Pureblood explained.

"This is an Invisibility Cloak." He stated. "It was passed onto me by my father and his father before him. This should hide us quite nicely."

Natalie was skeptical about that raggedy thing working and actually being an Invisibility Cloak, but she did it anyway. She, Sirius, Peter, and James all fit under the cloak and began to walk in unison as best as they could. Natalie was aware of how close her face was to Sirius' chest and was smothered by his scent because she had to be crunched down for all of them to properly be covered. It wasn't unpleasant, but she wasn't impressed by it either. She still had Alex's pretty face on the brain.

"Stop. Stop." Sirius said a bit gruffly.

The girl could hear the rumbles and vibrations in his chest and she was amused and fascinated by it. However, once they stopped Peter ended up tripping a little on Natalie's heel. A muffled sound of pain escaped her with widened eyes.

The boys looked at her in panic when Filch the annoying man looked in their direction it sent a swell of excitement in them as well except for Peter. The boy was just a 'fraidy cat loser to be honest unlike the daring students he associates himself with.

He came over towards them that was when the backed up rather silently as they could until they softly came into contact with the wall. Unfortunately, it was one of the many tricks to Hogwarts it was a false wall and they all fell right through the fake structure. That definitely got Filch's attention.

All of them scrambled to their feet and Filch began to freak out. He began to chase them as Peter squeaked and then screamed.

"You get back here you little turds!" Filch roared whilst running poorly after the Gryffindors.

The children ended up running two directions: Peter and James took off towards the clock tower and Sirius and Natalie took off towards their intended destination, the Stone Tower. The ones on the correct path ran up several flights of stairs and they were out of breath and looking for a place to hide.

"Here! A door!" Sirius exclaimed and then began jiggling the knob. "Ugh! It's locked."

"Move!" She said.

The girl picked up a large bust of some famous wizard from god knows what time period and smashed the lock with it like a pro. They then scrambled into the dark and tight space room shutting the door quickly. Little Natalie had her back pressed against the wooden door and Sirius— not by choice— had his hands against the door at either side of her head and his body wasn't quite touching hers but it was dangerously close to doing so.

Sirius couldn't help but notice her scent. It was lavender, the good quality lavender and not the kind that made you nauseous at the first whiff. She also, per usual, had that radiant glow about her especially when she was entertained with the alluring thrill of danger. Even though Natalie wasn't someone most would consider pretty... she just excreted this overwhelming sense of hope, and pure happiness. Sirius liked those qualities, however he found her peculiar much too peculiar.

The uncomfortable silence was soon interrupted by the sound of many scuttling legs, a claw going right down the side of the wall, and the sound of snarl...

**Author's Note: ****So, what are all of your thoughts on this chapter? It's kind of a cliffhanger isn't? I love cliffhangers….**

******Review this story if you like food. :—)**


	4. Know Thy Enemy

**Author's Note:**

**~Details:**

**Yea, plot lines are forming and romances are developing this story is getting to some really good bits. I hope all of you that are reading stick with this fic. Things shall be getting interesting.**

**Also, reviews are much appreciated because I haven't gotten one in awhile…. There's ice cream and puppy dogs in it for you if you do it. :—)**

**~Chapter Four: Know Thy Enemy~**

Loud screams erupted through the tight spaced room they hid in. In the next second, like lightening, they were out of there and no longer caring that Filch could catch them and make their lives a living hell. They were too frightened of what lies behind that door.

Eventually, the two ran all the way up to Gryffindor Tower on adrenaline alone, gave a rushed password to the Fat Lady, and scrambled into the Common Room. They were panting harshly and fighting to regain their breath. Natalie collapsed onto the nearest lounge chair and Sirius decided the floor would be better as he laid on his back.

"Bloody hell, that was such a rush. Let's do that again!" Sirius said after a good few minutes of silence.

"You're…," loud pant from Natalie, "insane."

Natalie sat up properly and made a small noise of discomfort since her muscles are crying out in pain. She nodded in agreement her heart was racing and her pulse was still thrumming hard all throughout her body. She hasn't had a thrill like this since that time the biggest and baddest bully chased her and attempted to beat her into a pulp. She, of course, somehow was able to hide away; now she knew that it was because of magic.

"W-wait, where's James and Peter?" She questioned with slight panic.

"I don't know." Sirius said immediately back on his feet like a loyal dog.

The girl's hands were gripping her dark and straight locks in stress. She didn't know what to do and that was when her mouth started going off in a panicked run on sort of way. She couldn't help it she was fearful for her friends getting caught by Filch or coming across that thing.

"What the bloody hell are we supposed to do?! James and Peter... Oh my god, that thing and Filch! I don't know—" Sirius placed a hand over her mouth.

"Shhhhhh." He said trying to get her to shut up and calm down. "I'm going to check my Dorm and if they're not in there we're going to find them. Got that?"

She nodded somewhat feebly and her big brown eyes looked really childish to Sirius. That sunshine about her was still there even when she was scared for her friends. Not many things in this world get Natalie down and take away her shiny personality.

Then Sirius took off and that was when she began to pace back and forth. Her red converse shoes padded back and forth over the gold rug underneath her feet. She often stressed and she didn't know how to deal with the stress over friends; she never had friends before Hogwarts.

"They're not in there." He said.

Then that was when the two— this time without the aide of the Invisibility Cloak— were sneaking through the corridors by dim wand light. Her body was close to Sirius' because he was the one with the wand light and she was hyper aware of her surroundings. She didn't want to be caught and be in detention for sneaking out twice in one night and going in the number one forbidden area. That would suck on so many levels.

"What if we don't find them?" Natalie whispered.

"We'll find them." Sirius said clearly not having failure become an option.

A few minutes dragged on; they had to hide a few times and hush a few paintings. It was quite the predicament and the two were starting to lose hope. That was when they came in contact with an armed hand.

The metallic hand swiped over Natalie and Sirius' mouth to keep them from shrieking in surprise. That was when (not so gracefully) Peter and James climbed out of each of their armor that lines the hall. Sirius and Natalie just looked at them in exasperation and a little bit in envy for the reason that they never thought to hide in there.

"Now, that's wicked." Sirius said.

"Who's there?!" Filch shouted.

"Hide!"

That was when they hid inside each of their own metal armor for fear of being seen and it was the most convenient. Filch, of course, was running as fast as his unshapely legs would carry him and wondered where all that chatter and clatter came from. He came up blank as he scoured slowly through the halls.

* * *

**~xXx~**

* * *

Natalie was considerably freaked out the next day as she went through the day like she was in a blurb. All throughout the day she was thinking 'what could that thing be?'. It was bothering and nagging at her because she didn't wish for that to happen ever again… never to encounter such an ugly beastie. After class she went to the library with Lily in tow questioning why she was here… they didn't need the library for their assignment due tomorrow.

"Come on, Natalie, tell me why you've been acting so weird today?" Lily hisses quietly so Madame Vultura wouldn't come after them with her wand that had a plume at the end.

"Can you keep a secret?" She whispered going through the rows and rows of books flying off the shelves.

"Sure." Lily said uncertainly and slowly.

Natalie picked up The Monster Book of Monsters and headed to a table hoping that she can find the beast that she encountered last night and at least get some comfort figuring out some ways to protect herself. Lily was waiting for her to say something as Natalie finally found the alphabetized name and creature she was looking for. Her chocolate brown eyes are wide and the size of saucers.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" Lily asked a little testily.

McLeod pointed to the picture in the text book designed for Third Years. Evans looked at it with narrowed eyes and then the emerald green eyes widen and fly up in disgust at the ugly image.

"That's what lies in the Stone Tower." Natalie said. "And that's what Black and I came across the other night."

"E… ew, that's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life. You see, you should have listened to me and not gone out with a bunch of boys."

Yeah, Natalie had nightmares about that particular animal last night and she had no intentions of ever talking about it again, however today just wasn't her day especially with Lily reprimanding her. Natalie didn't get any sleep last night because of her nightmares and she wasn't in the mood to deal with Lily.

"Oi Evans, can I have a word with McLeod?" He asked.

Natalie's brows narrowed in confusion, Lily just shrugged and left, and Sirius sat down. The brunette didn't understand why he was here, sure they came across an interesting specimen that one doesn't come across every day, but she didn't know why he was here right now in the library with her.

"SHHH!" Madame Vultra hushed.

Sirius and Natalie cringed a little before he took a proper seat in the chair. His feet were propped atop the table and he looked playful and bored. She supposed that was a fine quality, but could careless since she had her sights set on Alexander McLaggen. The girl flipped the book closed so he wouldn't see figuring it really wasn't any of his business.

"Find out what that thing was?" He seemed rather bored but there was a spark of interest since the subject they were discussing promised danger.

"That's not really any of your business." Natalie said still maintaining her sunshiny tone despite her _trying_ to be a bit mean.

"Eh… it kind of is." Sirius said rocking back.

She didn't understand why he was here with her when he clearly was gaining popularity quickly amongst her fellow classmates. His good looks, his athleticism— even if First Years aren't aloud to play Quidditch—, his inappropriate humor, and his 'bad boy' persona earned him pretty decent popularity so far. She wasn't resentful she just wondered why he wasn't with James and his new found friends.

"Why are you here?" She asked flipping the book up with the material only facing her.

"Because," he said pushing the text book down to look her in the eyes, "I'm curious and I want to go back there."

Her brows came together in a knit as she leaned closer much to his happy surprise. "Why?"

It was a good question. Why would someone ever want to go back there with that monster that would eat you alive and want to kill you? Natalie may not be the smartest person alive, but she knew not to pet one of those beasties. Likewise she was wondering if Sirius had the brains not to go down there. Thus she asked him why he would go there.

"There was something beneath its feet… a passageway, a gaping hole." Sirius said playfully and a bit dramatically.

"And you were looking at its feet?" She said a bit incredulously with a quirked brow.

"Well, I'm observant like that." He said sitting back again. "What I want to know is what's in there."

"I don't." She said standing and taking the book with her.

Sirius followed her quietly for the fact that Madame Vultra was following his every move with her beady eyes. The black sheep of the family wanted to know why she wouldn't help him and why she wasn't curious like he was. He knew she was adventurous and brave; last night was proof of that. It didn't make sense to him.

"Why not? It would be so much fun to do that." He said. "There's ice cream and puppy dogs in it for you if you help me."

She looked over with a small smile trying to at least be friendly about. It isn't hard for a girl like her to be cheery all the time and when she saw his puppy dog eyes and expression she was a little taken aback. The boy portrayed it so accurately that it was a little scary, but undeniably adorable.

"I'm sorry, I saw that thing in there Black and I am not going back in there; I may be brave, but I'm not stupid."

"Then why are you checking out that book?" Sirius smirked.

Her gentle smile disappeared and dropped to a frown. "Bye Black, I'll see you later."

She left without another word and much too fast for him to say or do anything. He was calling for her to stop, but she didn't hear a word of it willingly nor did she stop. She left in rather a huff.

* * *

**~xXx~**

* * *

Students were all annoyed at the difficulty of what the long standing Transfiguration professor had them at. You would think that she would have it easier for them considering she's the head of their House. However, McGonagall had high expectations and she always will for her students that was the kind of professor she was. Of course, the students didn't appreciate it one bit except one didn't mind whatsoever.

"It seems Miss Yamato will have to give you a demonstration since the rest of you can't perform the simplest of Transfiguration." Professor McGonagall said in her usual biting tone.

Everyone groans in annoyance at even the idea of the know it all showing off yet again and flaunting her abilities and acting like the stuck up person she is. However, she never bragged it was always big smirks on face and cooly performing the spells like a pro.

It was the task to turn a match into a needle and then to turn the needle back into a match. It was obvious that Heather was the best; she could do it easily with a few words and just a flick of her wand. For _normal_ students it was a little harder for them.

Much to everyone's dislike they all had assigned seat since a certain group of boys (James and Sirius) wouldn't shut their face holes. It wasn't the partners they wanted, but worse could happen… each of them could have sat next to Severus when he didn't bathe for a couple of days. Natalie and Sirius, Lily and James, Remus and Peter, and Heather and Janice were all all partners with each other.

"Oh come on, Evans." James taunted her. "You can do better than that."

"Shut it, Potter." She said bitingly.

Natalie wasn't having as much luck either with her partner; he was annoying the crap out of her and she practically wanted to deck him in the face. He kept pestering her with the same inane topic and questions.

"Come on, McLeod, I need your brains and help to find out what it is and I know that your not a chicken. Pupu-please." He said with a quivering bottom lip and very accurate puppy dog eyes.

Her brows are crunched at his shameless display at trying to persuade her. She, of course, thought it was adorable and a little unnerving that he would so accurately portray a cute little puppy so well. Natalie pursed her lips as they turn to the side out of annoyance.

"I've already told you several times: no. Why won't you leave me alone… or at least talk about something else."

"Not until you agree to help me." He said as he began to poke her.

"Stop that." She said in good natured shock.

He began to initiate quite the tickle match between them. He was clearly winning because her body twisted, moved, and jumped to get away from each touch that sent her into a loud burst of giggles. Unfortunately, that didn't go unnoticed Professor McGongall was on their case immediately.

"Black! McLeod!" She said in her loud and authoritative voice. "I do not permit horse play in my classroom and that's five points from Gryffindor. Out. Now."

Sirius simple shrugged it off like there wasn't a problem at all, but Natalie flushed in embarrassment as they left the classroom. She sat right beside the door, slid down on the ground, and pulled her knees to her chest since she had nothing better to do. Sirius did the same; he won't let it go… it was like he was possessed.

"Don't you want adventure? Some fun?" Sirius said with his usual sunshiny smile/smirk. "I know you do since you snuck out with the rest of us. It would be so cool to see what's down there and the danger would be great."

She bit her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her knees. It was her normal thinking position and Sirius' eyes were crinkling in hope and happiness. He prayed for her to be on his side; he needed help with this. He couldn't do it alone and no one else would be on his side for the fact that it would be ridiculous to believe what's guarding the passageway.

"If you stop bloody bugging me…," she takes a breath and then said, "I'll do it."

"Yes!" He cheered hugging her tightly throwing her off a good bit.

After that Natalie was hanging out with Lily trying to ignore what she just got herself into. Her stomach was twisting in knots and her heart was already skyrocketing much to her chagrin.

"So, I was invited to the Slug Club." Lily said. "Were you invited?"

"Er… yeah. I met him on the train and he seemed… friendly I suppose." Natalie said with a smile. "He also kept looking at everyone like hey were prizes… kind of creepy."

Lily had to agree on that; she picked up on that, but she still thought it would be interesting. The redhead naïvely believed that it would benefit her and all the rest of the students just as equally as it would benefit Slughorn.

"I'm going." She said.

"Okay, I'll go." Natalie said.

She didn't know if she was supposed to get all dressed up or not. Slughorn told them it was a big back to school bash and she didn't know what to do, so Lily and her decided to dress up. Might as well, they decided.

Lily was in a white dress that was just above her knee, it was slightly ruffled at the chest, and had thin straps. She wore tan sandals and a white ribbon at the end of her braided hair. The little redhead looked nice.

Natalie, on the other hand, was having trouble with her hair there was a huge knot at the end. Other than that she was pretty much ready. She was wearing a light pink dress that's a little longer on her legs and it's spaghetti strapped, she was also adorning white sandals, and a bracelet. Our brunette didn't look as nice as the redhead.

"Ow… ow." Natalie said in pain.

"Here, let me help you." Lily said using her comb to work out the knots at the ends.

After that they head on to the party walking side by side right past the Great Hall. However, they don't get through very well because a their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher rushed out of the Great Hall. The girls stopped and gave the old woman a look.

"Professor—" Natalie started off.

"Vampire! Vampire! There's a vampire in the castle!" She shrieked horribly pointing to a direction.

There was a collective gasp that resonated throughout the entire narrow area. Then that was when the old woman fainted right there. Lily immediately went over to help her and Natalie was about to too until she noticed Heather leaving in the direction the professor pointed at. That wasn't safe… at all.

"Yamato! What are you doing?" Natalie asked. "Professor Nightingale said that was where the vampire was."

"Exactly. I'm going to defeat it, alone." She said and then took off at a run with her wand in hand.

"Wait!" Natalie and Lily shout.

Unfortunately the girl who thought she could handle anything didn't stop or wait. So the girls decided to try as help their fallen professor. They attempted to sling the woman's arms around the poor girl's weak bodies. They has the professor dragging towards the Hospital Wing, but then they heard the most horrible scream they've ever heard in their lives.

"Yamato!" Both Natalie and Lily shouted.

**Author's Note: Do you think it's still awesome should I continue? Are any of you still interested?**

******Review this story if you're a pimp! :—P**


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